Happy Birthday to my blog...and a free giveaway to celebrate

wow it's amazing to think a whole year has gone by since i started this blog. I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me emails and left encouraging messages, i appreciate them all. God has blessed our family and taken me on some strange and a little hard to understand journeys this year but all have a purpose in the great scheme of God's plan for our lives. So to celebrate my blogs first birthday I'm giving away the whole set of my patterns that are for sale to one lucky winner...want to play...all you have to do is print off this cake pattern make it up into a card to suit any occasion any way you like and email me a copy along with your name...and at the end of 2 weeks the name of a card sent in will be picked at random to win all 48 of my patterns i have for sale. Ill add pics of these cards to this post over the 2 weeks as you send them to me. Id love to see your creations.


We had a picnic lunch today after church and enjoyed these chocolate cupcakes if you'd like the recipe go here and just add 1/2 cup of coco.


...have a great day....Luv Valita

thankyou Amy for your yummy cake card

another yummy card By Sue thanyou

and a couple of late commers this one from Ameila

and this one from Ingrid....thanks

and a last thought

This is good and pleases God our savior
for he longs for all to be saved
and understand his truth;
That God is on one side and all
the people on the other side,
and Christ Jesus, himself man, is
between them to bring them together,
by giving his life for all mankind.
1 Timothy 2:3-6

Cute santa box / card

Hi all, well the hype of Beth's formal is over and life goes on .....Beth has been doing a lot of sleeping since then and letting her brain have a rest!. Our son Ben has just finished his year 10 school certificate exams and work experience with a glass company so he's at home too also doing a lot of sleeping but i love there company at home they are constantly asking "what's for dinner mum?" but i don't mind ........i love this little triangular box its so quick and easy to make and can be decorated in so many ways. We did this with the ladies at my classes on Monday....

the instructions for the box can be found here. the tree was just as easy layering colours. and here's our second card.....

I used oil pastels to colour the Holly....go here to one of my older posts and see how.....and a close up pic of the bauble... just 3 different size circle punches and a swirl punch for the hanger...easy!

so there you go get your teeth into some quick ideas this Christmas.......Valita

and a last thought

So thanks be to God! for through
what Christ has done, he has triumphed
over us so that now wherever we go
he uses us to tell others about the Lord
and to spread the gospel like a
sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned
there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives.
It is the fragrance of Christ within us,
an aroma to both the saved and unsaved
all around us.

Beth's Formal pics

The night was fantastic, Beth was awarded for first in Music plus a book called Ultimate leadership, 100% attendance Plus a medallion, school service award (school church time and outreach) plus a CD of Rebbecca st James. Teachers parents and relatives etc were invited and the food was great! such a proud moment for all of us and such a great school that is training our kids to love and trust God through all they do. It was raining all day so we didn't get to take pic's where she wanted but we made the best of our back yard.....enough of my rambling here's some pics isn't she gorgeous !!!
I can' explain how proud and blessed us we are, i hope you enjoy ..........Valita

and a last thought from Beth

God has made everything beautiful
for it's own time. He has planted eternity
in the human heart, but even so, people
cannot see the whole scope of God's
work from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Christmas box / Formal preperations

Hi all, ill be flat out busy later today with our daughter's Formal so i thought id post Mondays cards while i have a quiet moment. We made this cute little gift box that was snack easy!! you can find the step by step instruction here. I used the wreath cuttlebug emboss folder and die set to do the wreath for the front and circle nestabilities to create the hole to view whats in the box. we covered this with clear plastic. Have a go because they were so unbelievably quick to make. here's another view.

Our second card was a corner folding design. you can buy these patterns from my pattern blog

The ladies at card class are so lovely they presented me with this card for Beth to congratulate her... a very talented lady called Chris made this beautiful card thank you Chris and all the ladies this means alot....Beth loved it!!

Today is very exciting for Beth she's at this moment fluffing around for her Formal dinner tonight. I finished her necklace ....take a looky!!


and she's booked in to the hair dressers to have her hair done up and then later at the spoilt rotten beauty salon to have her face done. I made her this card for the occasion...the pattern was made by a lady called Ingrid from New Zealand.

Can't wait to post more pics after tonight...........Valita

and a last thought

Take care to live in me,
and let me live in you.
For a branch can't produce fruit
when severed from the vine.
Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
John 15:4

Christmas pudding/ Pattern

Hi all, wow what a week.....weve had Beth finish all her exams and her schooling!! woo hooooo ! we took her out for dinner ....heres a pic. I made here a chocolate mud cake. to celebrate. We would like to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes for her during this time.

and then we were off to Cooranbong ( a 5 hour drive each way with our learner driver!) to a Youth Rally where our church's youth group band played for the rally...that's Beth in front doing the lead singing. They did such a great job and God really blessed the day.

So here's Monday's second card. This was a wreath stamp and i added in the pine cones, leaves and flowers, then the cuttlebug tree dies. and the pattern for the pudding. These are both easy cards to do.



So i hope you enjoy and once again thank you for all your encouragement to Beth. And my friend Bev has been cleared of her breast cancer praise God!!

and a last thought

Overwhelming victory is ours
through Christ who loved us
enough to die for us.
Romans 8:37

Christmas cards / Sydney Papercrafts Festvial

Hi All, well were back from the Sydney papercraft Festival. It was a hot 2 days we spent away with our son doing most of the driving on his L's to get some more hours up.....the normally 5 hour drive took us about 6 and a half!! :0 But i was proud of how he drove. This year's festival had been moved from Penrith to Canterbury and i must admit it wasn't as good as in years past as there weren't as many stalls, but still had the same atmosphere. here's a pic of one of the stalls and the goodies i ended up getting...............I got those big stamps for just $5 each!
So i was pretty happy with the day.


So here are the 2 cards we made on Monday with the ladies....Both fairly easy. In the second one the holly leaves were hand cut and the berries are a 1" punch.


We also had our daughter gain her silver award from school this week and are so proud of her. To get these Bronze Silver and Gold awards they have to work hard to receive compliments slips from teachers concerning their behaviour and school work, school service and also community service. here's a pic of her.........

Please also continue to remember the year 12 students in their exams ....Beth has her last one tomorrow, Chemistry. And also my friends Judy and Bev who are not well.

and a last thought that i found encouraging this week.

My soul claims the Lord as
my inheritance; therefore i will
hope in Him.
Lamentations 3:24